Inquest into death of former celebrity agent is adjourned for second time by coroner

An inquest into the death of disgraced publicist Max Clifford was adjourned for a second time on Monday.

Assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire, Simon Milburn said that the full hearing, which was scheduled to be held at Huntingdon Law Courts on Monday, would now proceed at a later date.

The publicist, who represented top names from the world of entertainment and masterminded tabloid newspaper stories, had been taken ill at HMP Littlehey, in Perry, where he was serving an eight-year sentence for sex offences.

The 74-year-old died at Hinchingbrooke Hospital on December 10.

A pre-inquest review, which was held in June, heard that Mr Clifford died from congestive cardiac failure, with cardiac amyloidosis and plasma cell neoplasm being secondary features.

His daughter, Louise, had raised concerns about his care in the period leading up to his death and took part in the inquest in June over a telephone link.

At the pre-inquest review, Mr Milburn said: “The central point is likely to be the treatment Mr Clifford received at various hospitals.”

He added: “On the face of it this is a natural causes death, unless something happens to make it unnatural.”

Mr Milburn told the hearing, which was subsequently adjourned, that a death from natural causes would not trigger the need for a jury, which often sit on prison death-related cases, when the full inquest takes place.

Miss Clifford said there had been an “uphill struggle” to get treatment for her father and there appeared to be a communication problem.

She agreed to make a statement which will go before the inquest.

Mr Clifford was jailed after being convicted of eight sex offences involving women and girls over a number of years following Operation Yewtree, set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.